Sunday, February 16, 2014

SOUR GRAPES





Have you noticed that in any country outside of France, Australia and New Zealand winemakers label Pinot Gris as Pinot Grigio?

In some ways this is a good thing as the godawful offerings from Italy, USA and South America are basically shit. The wines are usually made from under ripe grapes and are sulphured to hell.



 In Northern Italy the grapes don't ripen properly because the climate isn't good enough and in warmer countries grapes are picked early, before they are fully ripe to retain 'freshness'. What a lot of codswallop (they do this in South Africa with Sauvignon Blanc, trying to emulate a Marlborough style) as all you get is wine made from sour grapes that tastes weak, bitter and because it's basically out of balance, doctored with preservatives.
Avoid it al all costs.

What really pisses me off though is that now producers of fairly good Pinot Gris from countries that can make the stuff properly, are labelling it as Pinot Grigio. This doesn't include France however but that's just attributable to their arrogance.
This is done so that stupid consumers in UK, Canada and USA can recognise their 'favourite' plonk. Why they think that Pinot Grigio should be their favourite is anyone's guess - either they are stupid or have been cleverly duped by the marketers.

3 comments:

  1. Damn right.
    I 'discovered' Pinot Gris years ago and thougt that only France (Alsace region) could make a decent one. When I found New Zealand versions I was gobsmacked.
    Admittedly there isn't one particular style but "Vive La Difference"
    - I'm not French by the way.

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  2. Well, there is some truth cocncerning the common Pinot Grigio.
    The rest you wrote is nonsense, pure and simple!

    1. "In Northern Italy the grapes don't ripen properly because the climate isn't good enough". Even in southern Germany, and that's quite a bit to the north of northern Italy, the grapes ripenes perfectly well and yields at least 12.5 - 14% alc. In northern Italy it's no problem at all to have excellent grape quality.

    2. "Have you noticed that in any country outside of France, Australia and New Zealand winemakers label Pinot Gris as Pinot Grigio?" In Germany the grape is called Grauburgunder or Ruländer, not Pinot Grigio. In Austria it's also called Grauburgunder. In Alsace (France) it was called Takaj before Tokaj was restricted to Hungarian Tokaj. Even in Italy, Südtirol, the Grape is called Grauburgunder, not necessary on the lable but among vintners.

    3. "... are sulphured to hell ..." and "... doctored with preservatives ...". Any proof for that Statement? You won't find any!

    4. Not to mention that the Pinot Grigios from Südtirol, which is the coolest Region in Italy, can be excellent. And there ar excellent Grauburgunder from Austria and Germay and Pinot Gris / Tokaj from Alsace, too.

    Looks like your knowledge needs a heavy boost.

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  3. Old Joachim seems to have his knickers in a twist.
    Oh well, what do you expect from a guy with a name like Kaiser?

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